and the crystal suddenly morph into a Changeling, one of the Founders of the Dominion (Salome Jens), who reveals that she stole the Maquis ship in order to try to convince Odo to return to the Dominion. She reveals the real Kira's location and transports away. Odo finds Kira and tells her of the Founder, but not of his feelings for her. Meanwhile, on Deep Space Nine, Nog attempts to convince Commander Sisko to endorse his application to attend Starfleet Academy. Sisko is doubtful and suspects Nog is engaging in some underhanded scheme, especially since Nog's request was accompanied by the customary bribe Ferengi culture expects when making such requests. To test Nog's resolve, he gives him the task of counting the inventory of a cargo bay. Nog completes the task quickly but Sisko still has doubts. Sisko tells Nog that he will not give him a recommendation. Nog confesses that he wants to do it so that he does not end up like his father Rom (Max Grodénchik), whose engineering skills are not valued by Ferengi culture. Sisko, stunned by the young Ferengi's upstanding ambitions, agrees to recommend Nog to the academy. When Nog tells Rom and his uncle Quark (Armin Shimerman) of his intention to join Starfleet, Quark adamantly forbids it; but Rom, in an uncharacteristic act of courage, stands up to his brother and proudly grants his permission for Nog to join Starfleet. Production Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe conceived the story and wrote the script for "Heart of Stone", and intended the Odo/Kira storyline to be the A-Plot. Behr later thought that the performances of Eisenberg and Brooks elevated the Nog/Sisko story to equal status and would result in a better reaction by fans. The idea of having a character trapped was taken from the Ken Kesey novel Sometimes a Great Notion in which a character is trapped under a log and drowned by rising water. Behr described the same scene in the 1971 film as "a great scene in a not so great movie". The episode was intended to be low budget, but heavy on characterisation. At one point it was intended for Odo to sing the 1955 Richard Berry song "Louie Louie", which the character described as a sea shanty, but producers couldn't acquire the rights in time. The cast and crew were unhappy with the rock prop used in the episode.